In the Hands of Time
by Anwinn
Summary: The sequal to 'How Time Passes'. All shall be revealed. Chapter 1 now up!


Disclaimer: I don't own anything (except a few original characters) and I'm not making any money off of this.

Ch. 1: Yesterday

Airiana sighed loudly as she sat back and rested her head on the cool cell wall. She dreaded reaching Coruscant because that meant she'd have to face Sidious and she knew she wasn't prepared for it. It was hopeless to even think of being able to defeat him – if Master Yoda couldn't defeat him, why should she be able to? The only thing she could hope for was to put up a good fight. And she was determined to do exactly that. She had to be; her determination was the only thing she had left. Airiana began to massage her eyes, trying to work the tiredness out of them, as she thought back to how she had gotten into this situation in the first place.

It had been five months since Airiana returned from the Clone War period to Empirial time. She had woken up in Ben's hovel, wanting to ask him about exactly what happened after the clone troopers had turned on them. But she never got the opportunity. Ben hadn't been there when she woke up and when he returned he had Luke Skywalker and two droids in tow, one of them being in a pretty bad condition.

As this was the first time Airiana had ever met Luke, Ben introduced them, "Luke, I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine, Airiana Peredhil. Airiana, Luke Skywalker."

"Nice to meet you Luke," Airiana said as she reached over the upper half of the broken droid to shake Luke's hand. As she sat down, Ben asked Luke how his uncle and aunt were doing. Luke said they were doing fine and the two of them fell into light conversation. Airiana spent most of the time just listening and wondering why Luke seemed to remind her of someone. She also had to wonder about how R2-D2 had ended up on Tatooine because when she finally took the time to really look at the two droids, she saw that one of them was the same R2 she had come to know on Taroga. She was brought out of these thoughts when she heard Ben mention something about Luke's father serving in the Clone Wars.

"No, my father didn't fight in the wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter."

"That's what your uncle told you. He didn't hold with your father's ideals; thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved."

"You fought in the Clone Wars?" Luke asked with a look of surprise. Airiana also turned her attention to Ben, wanting to know how he was going to answer and if he was going to give her any hint that he knew her from those times. Airiana was a bit disappointed by his response, but also a bit intrigued because he said that he had been a Jedi, the same as Luke's father.

She looked back over at Luke and it finally clicked why he looked so familiar. Anakin was his father. But how could that be? Why hadn't Ben told her about this before? And certainly Anakin would have told her if he had had a son, wouldn't he?

Airiana's attention snapped back to Ben as he opened up a chest – one that she had never seen him open before. When he turned back around any doubt Airiana had about whether or not Luke was Anakin's son was erased. She watched, stunned, as Ben held Anakin's lightsaber in his hand and told Luke how his father would have wanted Luke to have it.

As the protocol droid shut down, Ben handed Anakin's lightsaber to Luke, who couldn't resist the temptation to turn it on and swing it around a bit. As he did so, Ben continued to explain things to Luke.

"For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic; before the dark times, before the Empire."

"How did my father die?" Luke interrupted and once again, Airiana turned her attention to Ben.

"A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now, the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force."

Although it wasn't the complete truth, it was close enough. Airiana wasn't going to go against Ben's word; he probably had a good reason for telling Luke what he did and Airiana certainly wasn't ready to talk about Anakin's fall. In fact, she didn't even want to think about it and was glad when Ben decided to finally look at the message that R2 was storing for him.

That was how it had started; a simple meeting and a simple message. Airiana sighed. Why did Ben have to go alone to power down that tractor beam? A lump began to form in her throat as she answered her own question – he knew what was going to happen. He knew and he still refused her, even after she had practically pleaded with him to let her go with him. Tears that Airiana had been holding back since that day began to fall as she thought back to their last conversation.

"Ben, wait," Airiana called out as she followed him out of the command office.

"Yes?"

"I'm going with you."

"That's not necessary. Stay here – make sure they don't get into any trouble," Ben said as he nodded toward the door that Luke, Han, Chewbacca, and the two droids stood behind. When Airiana didn't say anything he began walking away again. But Airiana wasn't giving up so easily; she had a bad feeling about this and knew Vader would probably feel their presences, if he didn't already, and confront them. And as much as she hated to admit it, Ben wasn't as young as he used to be, and, though Anakin wasn't nearly as powerful as he used to be either, he was still a worthy adversary.

"Obi-wan – "

Ben stopped and turned, looking questioningly at Airiana at the use of his real name, but instead of asking her about it he once again told her to stay put, "As I told Luke, I must go alone. Please, stay here…keep Luke safe, make sure the droids get delivered to the Rebellion."

Airiana realized she couldn't argue anymore and backed down. "Fine, I'll stay. But please be careful."

A smirk appeared on Obi-wan's face as he replied, "When am I not?"

Airiana had to smile at that before saying, "May the Force be with you."

"And you," Ben said with a smile as he turned away for the last time.

Airiana walked back to the door to the command office dejectedly, thinking about the possibility of Vader confronting Ben. She had just reached the door when it opened and she ran into Chewie. He growled angrily at the invasion of space, but Airiana paid him no attention, instead rounding on Luke and Han.

"Where do you think you two are going?"

"We're going to rescue the princess. Now, I'll just put these on…" Luke said as he reached out to put a pair of handcuffs on Airiana. Not knowing what was going on, Airiana threw her hands up defensively.

"Whoa now. What are you talking about?"

"Princess Leia – she's here. And if we don't rescue her, they're gonna kill her."

As understanding dawned on her, Airiana began taking off her utility belt that held her lightsaber and two blasters.

"I think you're gonna need those," Han said smartly.

Airiana ignored him and handed it to Luke and said, "Lose this and you'll get lost somewhere no one will _ever_ find you. Give them back to me as soon as the gaurds are down."

Luke hesitantly took the belt, clasped the cuffs around Airiana's wrists, and they began making their way towards Leia's cell.

Airiana smiled as she remembered the foolhardy attempt to rescue Leia. She still couldn't believe they had pulled it off without any of them getting the lights blasted out of them. But somehow it had worked and they were able to make it to the hanger bay in one piece – almost.

"Didn't we just leave this party?" Han asked as he, Chewbacca, and Airiana watched some stormtroopers passed by in front of them. Luke and Leia appeared a few seconds later.

"What kept you?"

"We ran into some old friends," Leia answered.

"Is the ship all right?" Luke asked, concerned.

"Seems okay – if we can get to it; just hope the old man got the tractor beam out of commission."

"He did," Airiana answered a little defensively.

Han was about to reply with a smart-ass comment, but Airiana held up her hand and shooshed him as she unclipped her lightsaber with her other hand. She could feel something was wrong up ahead, but she couldn't see over the stormtroopers. Just as she was about to move forward to try and get a better view of what was going on, Luke called out for them to look.

What Airiana saw made her hair stand on end and her stomach turn upside down. Her worst fears had suddenly come true as she saw Obi-wan face to face with Anakin. No – she corrected herself – Vader.

"Now's our chance – go." Han ordered as the stormtroopers rushed forward to watch the duel. As Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie started for the Millennium Falcon, Airiana ignited her lightsaber and made a beeline for the stormtroopers and Obi-wan. When her companions realized what she was doing, they tried to call her back as quietly as they could, but Airiana was ignoring them, thinking only of getting to Obi-wan and Vader. Airiana reached the first stormtrooper and sliced his head off before being detected by the others. She was too fast for them, however, and had taken care of two more before any of them even got out a shot. It wasn't long before most of the surrounding stormtroopers had either been taken care of or retreated to the edges of the hangar bay, giving Airiana the time she needed to get to Obi-wan.

As she turned around to make her way to where Obi-wan and Vader stood, her eyes caught Obi-wan's for a split second. In that split second, Airiana knew exactly what was going to happen and knew that there was nothing she could do to stop it. She reached out through their bond, in some hope of still being able to do something, but he had her blocked. Fear coursed through Airiana's veins and a cold chill ran all along her spine.

She began moving forward, eyes locked on Obi-wan. He turned away, looking back up at Vader, and raised his lightsaber. Airiana called out his name as she fought with all her might to break loose of the shackles that kept her from going any faster.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Anakin – no, Vader – raise his lightsaber and swing it back. Airiana reached out to Obi-wan again, trying to force her way through his shields in a desperate effort to stop what was about to happen. When he realized what she was doing, he dropped his shields and Airiana latched on to their bond. A half a second later it was shattered as Vader swung his blade forward and straight through Obi-wan.

Airiana screamed in agony as she fell to her knees. The pain she felt from the shattered bond was unlike anything she had ever felt before; like her body and soul had been ripped in two and then thrown in a blender, all the while retaining the ability to feel everything. She opened her eyes as a pair of strong arms lifted her up and began to pull her away. She looked towards where Ben was standing only a second ago and saw his robe and lightsaber laying in a pile on the ground.

Her eyes traveled up the red blade that still hung over the remains and came to rest on the face of Darth Vader. She looked into his dark eyes, through the mask, and knew that he was looking back at her, straight into her own eyes. He began moving towards Airiana and her rescuer. Just before the blast doors slammed shut, blocking Airiana's view of Vader she felt something – something very subtle, so subtle it was barely there at all. It was familiar, yet unrecognizable and seemed to be fighting for the little bit of existence it had. Airiana narrowed her eyes at the space behind the blast doors where the dark figure had been and tried to call out to whatever it was she had felt, but she was in so much pain and so exhausted that, even if anyone would have heard her, they wouldn't have been able to understand it. A few seconds later she was being carried aboard the ship, passing out as soon as the hatch blocked her view of the hanger bay.

"Anakin…Why?" Airiana asked out loud as she leaned forward, covering her face with her hands and trying to slow her tears.


End file.
